Jehuty Zone of the Enders
by Jorus C'baoth
Summary: Novelization of the first Zone of the Enders game. Not a straight novelization, but more of an expansion as well. There are plenty of things in this that were not in the game. The story may or may not end up finished, its posting here is simply to find an audience.
1. VIOLA

CHAPTER ONE : VIOLA

TWENTY MINUTES BEFORE THE RAID

outside antilia colony, near-jupiter orbit

There were dozens of them. All destroyed.

The Orbital Frame known as Neith slowly moved through the debris caused either by Colonel Nohman's Selkis or Axe's Tyrant. Viola Gyune had to admit―they were very thorough. But, then again, she wouldn't expect Colonel Nohman to be anything _but _thorough. The man was very much obsessed with leaving the enemy so dead that the corpse couldn't be identified.

She shivered thinking about some of the things he'd done.

The squad of Raptors, Mummyheads and Cyclops behind her all moved with mechanical precision―each was four meters away from the next, while all were moving at exactly the same rate of speed. The unmanned Orbital Frame linking system that NUT Ltd had come up with was nothing short of the best. Of course, NUT Ltd was the best when it came to Orbital Frame technology. The UNSF had conducted tests with OF tech shortly after the Deimos incident, but most of that had fallen through. She knew of only one successful test of UNSF OFs, and that was when a BAHRAM LEV team had brought Metatron to this very colony―Antilia―and then had stopped at the satalite Callisto for rest, when a UNSF team surrounded them. No survivors had been reported.

But, of course, that LEV team may have been very incompetent. A group of a dozen LEVs can destroy an Orbital Frame, and there had only been six OFs that had destroyed the Callisto team. Perhaps, the UNSF had found a way to surpass Idolo's faults and create the truly perfect OF.

_Impossible. Earth is as imcompetent as that LEV team probably was. They couldn't understand OF tech if it bit them in the ass. The Ryan Corporation also can't mine Metatron that quickly―they only just began to see its potential._

Maybe once Earth was under the control of BAHRAM, then would they share Orbital Frame technology. Doubtful, however, as Mars would do to Earth what Earth had been doing all along―Mars would start treating the blue-green sphere as if it were some backwater third-world country. That would be a fitting fate for those racist fools.

Viola almost wished she could see it happen.

But, no. Antilia would be her last mission. She could _feel_ it. Something about the colony itself was telling her that her days were coming to an end. And, finally, she would see him again―Radium Lavans. A man she'd loved since she was fifteen years old. His death, five years ago, had been her last straw. It had been, from that point on, her mission to die.

To see him again.

_"__Calling all Orbital Frames,"_ Nohman's voice came through the comm channel. It was about time. _"Our mission, this time, is to secure these two new Frames, or to destroy them."_

Viola smiled. "Even if it costs us the colony?"

_"__What was that, Viola?"_

"This is BAHRAM territory, Colonel."

_"__Your point?"_

"These are our citizens. These people live for _us_."

_"__These people are neutral in the war between Earth and Mars. And for their neutrality, they shall suffer their lives. Antilia has served its purpose in the future my father foresaw."_

"So your aim is Anubis?"

_"__Of course. Target Alpha. And Target Bravo will belong to you. If the Earth Runner is not aboard, take it. If he is aboard, destroy it. Neith should be more than enough. And don't go out of your way to die, Viola. Don't lose sight of what needs to be accomplished in order to liberate Mars from the Terrans."_

"You think I'd willingly sacrifice myself for our cause? I know how valuable you think I am to Mars' liberation."

_"__Good. I've entered through the colony shaft with Axe and Nightraid. From what I've gleened off the local server, Target Alpha is still under construction in a factory on the north side of the colony. Target Bravo is complete, and resides in a southern factory."_

"Why split them up?"

_"__For this very occasion. To split our attention between two targets, opening way for a counterattack, either by LEVs or Terran OFs."_

"You think they have any?"

_"__It's a possibility. Since Zero-Three Squadron was taken out, I'm sure Earth has found a reason to continue manufacturing their own Orbital Frames."_

"I'm anxious to meet one."

_"__I'm sure you will, Viola. You and Slash should be more than enough of a force to take back Target Bravo. I'll contact you again in a half an hour."_

"Good." She shut down the comm channel. "It's time to play."

Viola smiled again. Hopefully, there would be Terran OFs awaiting her, and not just pisspoor LEVs. She wanted a challenge, not just a warm up.

_This magic will take me out of this world with no light. Radium is waiting..._


	2. THE BEGINNING OF THE RAID

CHAPTER TWO : THE BEGINNING OF THE RAID

TWO HOURS BEFORE THE RAID

residential block s02, bakura district, antilia

Leo Stenbuck stared at the ceiling of his bedroom and watched a fly crawl across it. It was rare to see flies in Antilia. It was rare to see _any_ type of insect, really. Especially in Residential S02.

There was a knock on the door. Leo knew it was his father―John Stenbuck―telling him that he was leaving for the night. That was all he ever came to say. "Leo, I'm heading out for now." or, "Leo, order some food for yourself, I'm going somewhere across the river." Never, "Son, do you want to come along?" or, "Say, Leo, how about some father-son time?"

John Stenbuck hated his son.

And Leo Stenbuck hated his father. And his mother.

In fact, there were very few people Leo liked, nowadays.

In school, he was teased and hated for being a Terran on a Martian-built colony. He was ridiculed for being a loner, and mocked because everyone knew that his father hated him.

Only one person even gave him the time of day: Celvice Klein. She was a ray of sunshine on the dark side of the moon. Not only did Celvice talk to him, she actually carried on conversations with him. Asked him his opinion. Complimented him.

He only wished others would do half as much.

The door opened and Leo's father entered the room. "I'm going to a company dinner in New London, son. I probably won't be back tonight."

Leo barely tilted his head toward his father. "Why does a company dinner take all night?"

"I'll be returning to the factory afterwards. Some big league Earth general is here, wanting to inspect some of the equipment."

John Stenbuck seemed to linger for a moment, as if waiting for permission from Leo before leaving. After a moment passed, he just shut the door and left.

Leo fought back the urge to cry.

TWENTY MINUTES BEFORE THE RAID

factory block f14, alpha district, antilia

Leo walked around the factory area and saw an entrance. It was unguarded―which was odd―and simply left open. That was unusual in and of itself, as all the doors in the factory area―and pretty much everywhere else on the colony for that matter―were automatic, and closed when a person was not in close proximity. Since there were no weather abnormalities on the colony, it wasn't like any kinds of adverse effects could occur if two people were standing in the doorway and talking, thus eliminating the only real fault in the automatic system.

Leo took a step closer to the door and looked inside. No one was in the hallway. He entered and walked along the short hallway, eventually coming to another auto-door that was stuck open. This one led into a small room with a bunch of control stations. There was something wrong with the room, however.

There was a mass of corpses lying around the room.

He took a few steps into the room. One of the dead men was slung over the nearest console. His blood was pooling around his feet and down over the other side of the console, dripping from his hands. Leo did his best to side step the man, but he ended up slipping in the man's blood by accident.

A gunshot rang out. Leo looked around and saw a large window along one wall. He'd been far too transfixed on the corpses to notice it before, but now it was clear as day and a strange blue light was coming from the worklights in the other room.

Leo looked out the window and saw three men on a catwalk. Two were on one side of a large grouping of crates, the third was on another. The third man was sticking close to the crates, his back was to the crates, and he was facing away from other two. Occasionally, he'd come out a little from behind the crates and fire his gun at the other two, but he didn't hit anything. Leo could see now that he had a bullet wound in his arm, the same one that had the gun in his hand.

"Who the fuck's that?" one of the first two shouted, loud enough that Leo could hear him. It took a few moments to register that they were talking about _him_. Suddenly, a bullet popped through the window and then hit the wall behind him. Leo ducked behind a console―which was covered in another man's blood―and grabbed his arms, keeping his legs tucked up against himself.

Three gunshots later, and the wall that had been turned into target practice was no longer being peppered with rounds. Leo looked out around the side of the console and saw that the wounded man was the only one left standing. "Hey, kid!" he called, through the now shattered window. "C'mere!"

Leo nodded, then got up and walked through the only other door in the room. The new hallway led to the catwalk which the wounded man was standing on. As he got closer, Leo could see a patch on the man's left shoulder. It had the insignia of the United Nations Space Force―UNSF―along with a smaller insignia that had only one word printed―Atlantis.

"Are you hurt?" the wounded man asked. "Is that your blood?"

Leo looked himself over and didn't see any blood, until he looked at the sleeves of his jacket. There was wet blood all over him. He took the jacket off and saw that the entire back was soaking wet with blood. "No," Leo answered, "it must have come from when I was tucked up against that control console while those guys were shooting."

"Good."

_Good? This was my favorite jacket!_ Leo resisted the urge to shout. "What's going on?" he asked instead.

"BAHRAM is attacking the colony." Leo read the nametag on the man's uniform. FRAKES. "We saw a large OF force coming in on the radar. By the time I got here, these guys were trying to steal this Frame." He waved his hand to his left, where Leo could finally see what the man had really been ducking behind―the cockpit of a weird kind of LEV. He'd never seen one like it before. "My name is Lieutenant Alan Frakes, what's your name, kid?"

"Leo Stenbuck."

Lieutenant Frakes' face registered some kind of recognition at the name _Stenbuck_, but he said nothing about it. "Well, Leo, you need to get out of here. Get outside and see if you can find a UNSF officer out there, name is Egubon. Tell him to get in here, and I'll brief him on what's going on, got that?"

"But, how do I know he'll listen to me?"

"Just tell him Lieutenant Frakes is in here. Go!"

Leo nodded, then ran.

Maintenance bay 14, nereidum factory, antilia

Alan watched as the kid ran back the way he came. He looked down and noticed that the kid's jacket was lying on the catwalk. Must have dropped it.

He turned back to Jehuty's cockpit and pressed down on the Force Tiles which made up the cockpit glass. Within seconds, they had dissolved away and the cockpit was open. He was about to get in when he heard footsteps. He turned and looked, but saw nothing. Then―there! A shadow had moved. He raised his handgun and squeezed the trigger, hitting the wall next to the other outside entrance and frightening the shadow-man. Shadow-man drew his own weapon up and fired just as Alan let out a volley of rounds.

His rounds hit Shadow-man in the chest and sent him over the railing and down to his death.

Shadow-man's round hit him just below his Adam's apple. He didn't even feel it as he fell backwards and partially into Jehuty's cockpit.

factory block f14, alpha district, antilia

Leo made it back outside but heard more gunshots. _Lieutenant Frakes?_ For a moment he wondered if he should go back in there, until two men grabbed him from behind. He was dragged to a parking lot next to the factory and shoved against a light pole. The two men were UNSF Security. A shorter man, with an outragous haircut walked into the light toward him. The nametag on his uniform read EGUBON.

"Sir!" Leo shouted. "Lieutenant Frakes is inside, and asked me to―" Leo was cut off by a wad of tissue paper being stuffed in his mouth.

"Shut up! Fucking Ender! I don't have to listen to a damn thing you say!" Egubon spoke with an accent, but Leo couldn't quite make it out. "You're just tresspassing on UNSF territory, like these pitiful excuses for humans!" Egubon pointed to another light pole to Leo's right. Tied to it were three of Leo's schoolmates―Hakashi, Togu and a girl named Elise.

Hakashi sounded surprised. "Leo? What the hell are you doing here?"

Egubon walked over to him and smacked him across the face with his pistol. "Who told you to speak, you waste! I tell you when your mouth is needed, and right now it isn't!" Egubon pointed his handgun at Hakashi's forehead. "You're lucky I don't blow your fucking brains out all over the road!"

Elise squealed, then wormed her way out of the ropes that had her tied to the pole. She started running, then shouted, "It was their fault!"

Egubon turned his gun toward her and fired.

Leo's eyes widened in horror. Egubon was a racist of the worst degree.

Elise tried to stand up again, but couldn't. She just laid there and cried. Leo couldn't do anything. His mouth was full of tissue paper and his hands were being tied to the pole by the other two UNSF guys. He managed to spit the tissue paper out. "Stop this! She didn't do _anything_!" he shouted.

Egubon walked over to him and put the barrel of his gun underneath Leo's chin. "All of you piles of shit do is _nothing_. All you're good for is making sure Earth continues on into the next generation."

"Lieutenant Frakes was being shot at! He's in there right now! I heard more gunshots when I came out here!"

"Lieutenant Frakes knows to call in if there is a problem. If someone is shooting at him, he knows to be a good soldier and die. He, too, is an Ender, after all."

Leo couldn't take any more of this. He kicked Egubon away and wormed his way out his own ropes. After that, he jumped onto the shocked Egubon and knocked his handgun out of his hands.

Something took hold of him. Leo couldn't think anymore. After a few minutes, he couldn't feel his fists slamming into Egubon's face any longer. His breathing had become very shallow. He looked around and saw a shocked look on Hakashi and Togu's faces.

He looked down and saw that Egubon no longer had a face.

The two UNSF soldiers who had been there had run away. Elise was now sitting up, but still wasn't moving. Leo himself stood up and walked over to Hakashi and Togu. Both looked frightened. He undid the ropes tying them to the pole. "What did I just do?" he asked them.

Neither answered. He looked them over, saw that both were shivering like crazy. Togu had wet himself. "Never mind," Leo said after a moment. "Just get her to a... a hospital, or something..." Both nodded and ran as fast as their legs could carry them. For Hakashi, this was no easy task, as he weighed close to three hundred pounds.

Leo walked over to Egubon's body and sat down in front of hit. Something felt wrong, now. He felt cold, like he'd just been stuffed in a freezer. It was obviously a much higher temperature than that, however. He heard light footsteps coming toward him.

He looked up and saw Elise, barely able to stand. "Thank you," she said. "You saved our lives."

Leo stood up and steadied her. "I... I don't know what I did. I don't know how it happened."

"I don't care about that. I'm just happy that you did. He was crazy." She kissed him on the cheek. His face felt warm again. Togu and Hakashi helped steady her, then Togu just decided to pick her up and carry her.

"Don't feel bad about what you did," Hakashi said. "He deserved it."

As they turned and walked away, Leo fell to his knees. _But what do _I_ deserve, now? I've killed someone._

The ground began to shake. Leo stood up and looked around. There was an explosion near the edge of the factory zone. Suddenly, a small, slightly more streamlined LEV was standing up, firing a cannon from its right arm.

It was between red and pink, color-wise. The head was a very odd shape with a kind of V-shape. The body shape was very feminine, with two breasts attached to the chest as if it were a real woman. A strange disc-like object was attached to the back, and the shoulders flared out to sharp tips.

It was like no LEV Leo had ever seen before, except―

_The one Alan was fighting in front of_

―except he didn't care. He could see now that whoever was piloting that thing was affiliated with the BAHRAM invasion Lieutenant Frakes had mentioned.

The cannon underneath the right arm turned toward the parking lot Leo and the others were still in. It took him a moment to realize what was happening, then he shouted to the others, "Run! Get outta here!"

It was no use, however, they had frozen up. Hakashi and Togu weren't moving at all, and Elise was a sitting duck in Togu's arms. She looked back at Leo, and he could clearly see her face. Her expression conveyed a great deal of sadness.

A proton blast landed on the exact spot where the three had been, and Leo watched in horror as it virtually vaporized them and the surrounding area, four feet out in every direction. The force of the explosion, however, didn't let him watch for long. It was almost like an invisible hand pushed him back, he landed on his back, and heard something crack.

When he could stand once more, he took a look at the crater that had once been his three schoolmates. Only tattered remains of clothing, a little blood, and what Leo could only describe as a femur were left. The rest was gone.

Leo watched as the red LEV pointed its cannon at him, now, only to be moved seconds later. And he knew why. He had felt the ground shake as UNSF LEVs arrived. Suddenly, machine gun fire erupted around the area, and pelted the red LEV. Leo took the opportunity and made a run for it, back to the factory. He could tell Lieutenant Frakes what was happening, maybe he'd protect him.

As he entered the factory, he gave one last look outside, and saw that the red LEV was barely affected by the massive amount of machine guns firing at it.

Instead, its gaze was transfixed on him.

factory block f14, alpha district, antilia

Viola almost laughed as the three children died before her. They had been fools to stand there and just watch. She aimed the cannon at the fourth child and was about the fire when bullets started to hit Neith's body. She looked up and saw a full platoon of UNSF LEVs doing the shooting.

"Stupid fools!" She raised the cannon, leaving the boy alone for now, and fired a shot at the nearest LEV. It's pilot probably didn't expect anything other than a cockpit shot, but she surprised him by taking off its head. It stumbled around for a few moments, then started firing again. The shots still landed on Neith, until Viola moved it and prepared for one-on-one combat with the LEVs.

She gave one look back at the boy who had evaded her. He had entered the hangar that Target Bravo was stashed in. _Good,_ she thought, _he can die along with it._ She smiled once again.

She hit the boosters and proppelled the Neith towards the headless Phantoma, then, using the underarm blade, sliced it in half. The poor pilot had only seconds to realize he was dead, as the the ArkJet engine carried within enough power to level a building within seconds.

The second LEV had stopped firing, so Neith grabbed the machine gun from its right hand and turned it on itself, spraying fire all over it. The third LEV was still shooting away, but it fell victim to the cockpit being ripped off and thrown at the fourth LEV. Only three more LEVs were left, and each one was taken out as swiftly and destructively as the first four, with Neith taking only minimal damage from their barrage.

A good team of LEVs could destroy an Orbital Frame.

This group couldn't even dent one.

Viola smiled once more, then began laughing. "C'mon out, Target Bravo! Give me a fight!"

Maintenance bay 14, nereidum factory, antilia

Leo ran along the catwalk and tripped on his own discarded jacket. He hit the metal of the catwalk hard, but didn't feel it. He was somewhere else right now. Killing Egubon and watching Hakashi, Togu and Elise die were too much for him.

He didn't see Lieutenant Frakes anywhere. He stood up, slowly, and walked past the two bodies from before and stopped at the cockpit to the weird, blue LEV.

Lieutenant Frakes' dead body was slumped backwards over the edge of the cockpit. Blood pooling in the seat.

Leo fell to his knees. Now there was nothing. Now, he should just wait for the red LEV to destroy the factory, and him along with it. To send him straight to Hell for killing Egubon. Of course, Egubon would have ended up there, as well.

He stood up and grabbed Lieutenant Frakes' body and pulled it out of the cockpit and set it on the catwalk. He sat down on the edge of the cockpit and just watched the body. His eyes were still open, staring out at the ceiling. Leo almost chuckled―that was exactly how his night had started.

An explosion rang out close by. Maybe that red LEV was getting to work destroying the factory. He could only wish.

The building began to shake, causing Leo to lose his balance. He grabbed hold of the rim of the cockpit, trying to stay upright. More shaking. Suddenly the tremors were turning violent. Maybe the red LEV really _was_ about to destroy the factory.

As the shaking turned from violent to worse, Leo could barely hold onto the rim of the LEV's cockpit. He decided to jump inside, maybe that would be safer. He acted on his plan and hopped into the cockpit, hopefully away from the tremors.

The console inside the LEV sprung to life as his ass hit the seat. He rushed quickly to turn it off, but it was no use―he couldn't understand any of the controls. The cockpit sealed―what his father had called _Force Tiles_, it seemed―and he was stuck inside the odd vehicle.

Things began to flash by on the screen.

ADA SYSTEM

ACTIVATED

SYSTEM―0%

SYSTEM―100%

_"__Good morning,"_ the device said in a strange metallic, female voice, _"ready for combat operations?"_

"Combat?!" Leo shouted. "I didn't turn you on! What the hell is this?!"

_"__This is detatched backup battle unit ADA, the advanced battle computer of this Jehuty. I ask again, ready for combat operations?"_

"But... But..."

_"__My sensors detect a Type-C Orbital Frame outside this facility. My data logs have determined this Type-C is the Orbital Frame Neith. Pilot registered as Viola Gyune, second lieutenant, BAHRAM."_

"That red monster is an Orbital Frame?!"

_"__So is Jehuty."_

"What the hell is a Jehuty?!"

_"__This Orbital Frame. What I am part of. What you are sitting in the cockpit of. Where is the registered frame runner, Lieutenant Alan Frakes?"_

"He's... He's dead."

_"__Then you have, for the time being, aquired his responsibilities. Per United Nations Space Force guidelines: A civilian can be placed in a military position if there is insufficient time to replace a military officer. As the Neith is attacking this facility and no other UNSF officers are around, you are now my frame runner."_

"But, I've never piloted an Orbital Frame!"

_"__I will give you instructions until Jehuty can be reaquired by a UNSF officer. To manipulate the Frame, touch the control orbs. These devices will control all aspects of Jehuty's movement."_

"Oh... okay... I still don't think I can do this. So, just move, like this?"

Leo started rolling the orbs around, and Jehuty moved forward, ripping apart the catwalk that had been ahead of it. _Damn it!_ He continued to hold onto the orbs, until he stopped at the wall in front of him. It was much easier than he'd imagined.

_"__Use a Shot to open a hole in the ceiling. This will allow us entrance into the colony."_

Leo nodded, then used the orbs to raise Jehuty's right hand. He pointed up and fired. A blue ball of energy shot from Jehuty's hand and hit the ceiling, sending debris flying in all directions. Falling concrete and metal bounced off of Jehuty's shell, but did no damage.

_Orbital Frames are tough..._ Leo thought. _That explains why those LEVs weren't doing any damage to the red―to the Neith._

He didn't dwell on it for long. Instead, he used the orbs to thrust Jehuty up and out of the factory.


	3. JEHUTY

CHAPTER THREE : JEHUTY

factory block f14, alpha district, antilia

Jehuty shot out of the factory and landed on the remains of the roof. Leo looked around and saw nothing. No LEVs, no Neith, no people. Just the buildings of the factory area. One of them was on fire, but no fire crews were tending to it.

_All of this... caused by Viola?_

A shot flew past Jehuty's head. Leo spun the mech around and saw Neith there, floating over the factory.

_"__So, Target Bravo, you've arrived,"_ the voice came through the comm channel. A holographic window opened to Leo's left, and he saw an image of a woman, mid-twenties, with short red hair.

_This must be Viola Gyune._

_"__Are you going to answer, whoever it is in there?"_

Leo didn't know whether to press anything, so he just spoke. "You killed my... my friends." He was unsure whether to call Hakashi, Togu and Elise his friends or not. Elise, at least, had never treated him badly. Togu and Hakashi were a much different story, but they all three were relieved by what he'd done to Egubon.

Viola's face expessed surprise. _"You're just a kid? That kid who got away?"_

Leo didn't answer. He proppelled Jehuty toward Neith and readied the blade on the right forearm. He took a lunge―but Neith caught it with her own blade. He kicked with Jehuty's left foot, knocking Neith off and setting her up for another attack. Leo wasted no time and brought the blade down. Shards of Neith's shell went flying, as Viola brought up the gun she'd destroyed the three kids with and fired. Leo moved Jehuty's head out of the way just in time.

Neith pulled back, cocked back the arm, and a ball of red energy appeared in its hand. With some exertion―as Leo could best describe it―Neith let the ball fly. Leo had seconds to act―he dashed to the left, catching the side of the ball as it went past him. He raised Jehuty's hand and fired off several shots at Neith, all of which hit the OF just as it turned to fire again.

_"__Damn!"_ Viola screamed. _"There's no way you can be this good!"_

Suddenly, another voice came over the comm channel, but Leo could tell it wasn't directed towards him. _"Come back."_

_"__What? Colonel, I can―"_

_"__Viola, I said 'come back'. We'll deal with this later."_

_"__But it's just a kid piloting Bravo! I can kill him!"_

_"__We need Bravo intact, Viola."_

_"__You said we could destroy them!"_

_"__New information has come to light. Withdraw now. We'll go after Bravo together after Alpha has been secured."_

_"__Fuck! You were lucky this time, _boy_, but don't think I'll let you live next time!"_

Neith fired off two more shots from its cannon, which Jehuty dodged easily enough. The second barely clipped Jehuty's shoulder. When Leo looked back, Neith was gone.

Above city block c01, ishimura district, antilia

Viola wanted to head over to the northern factory right away and kill Nohman herself. Telling her to withdraw? Bullshit! She hit the comm button and Colonel Nohman's stoic face appeared on the holographic screen. "Damnit, Colonel, why did you have me withdraw?"

_"__As I said before, Viola, we need Anubis _and_ Jehuty. It seems the plan cannot work without both Frames."_

"Why didn't you know that before? This was part of your father's legacy, after all."

_"__I didn't know the particulars. The good doctor kept them hidden from me."_

"He's just a kid, y'know. I could kill the bastard Terran without projectile weapons."

_"__Since you seem not to be listening, I'll put this in the terms you seem able to comprehend: I don't give a fuck. We're taking Anubis and Jehuty back to Mars, understand? Good."_

Viola shut the comm channel. Nohman was beginning to piss her off. She typed up Slash's call number and waited for the big man to answer. _"What is it, sweet cakes?"_

"Shut up, Slash. Start attacking the Residential areas. Draw Bravo out and destroy it."

_"__But the colonel―"_

"Do I look like I care what Nohman says? I want Bravo dead, and that damn kid along with it."

_"__Okay. But if my ass gets in big because of this, I'll come after you."_

"And you'll die knowing it was no use. Just get to work, Slash." She shut down the comm channel and sat back. What would Radium think of her now?

"I'll tell you what I think, Viola," a familiar voice said. She looked around and suddenly―as if he were a ghost―Radium Lavans faded into the cockpit, mere inches away from her. "I'll tell you that you're doing it all wrong."

"What?" she asked, entertaining this strange feeling that Lavans was truly in the cockpit. "But I'm fighting for Mars!"

"Ah, but you're doing it all wrong, pouty-face."

Viola frowned. He was making her feel like an eighteen year old kid again. "Damnit, Lavans! Shut up!"

Unknowningly, Viola hit the orb and lanced out with her forearm blade, destroying a building next to her.

"Too slow, Viola," Lavans' ghost said, laughing at her.

factory block f14, alpha district, antilia

Leo stopped moving Jehuty as soon as Viola left. He sat in the cockpit, himself unmoving.

ADA spoke up as a beeping began to sound from somewhere in the cockpit. _"There is a message on the UNSF circuit. Would you like me to answer it?"_

Leo didn't answer.

_"__Your vital signs are not acceptable. Your heart rate is elevated, your blood pressure is not within acceptable norms. Please slow your breathing, or practice mental exercises to reduce your stress."_

Leo still didn't say anything.

_"__I will answer the UNSF call."_

_"__To the Runner aboard Jehuty, please respond."_ It was a female voice. _"To the unidentfied person aboard the UNSF Orbital Frame, please respond. Listen, whoever the hell you are, I'm not going to ask again."_

"I'm here," Leo said, not even looking at the holographic to his right. "Whaddya want?"

_"__First, I want to know your name, and the circumstances to your ending up on Jehuty."_

"I... My name's Leo. And I got in because I wanted the factory to land on top of me."

_"__You wanted to die? What's wrong with you?"_

Leo gritted his teeth. "Shut up, goddamnit!" he shouted, slamming his fists down onto the console. "I don't need to take that shit from someone like you!"

_"__Calm down, kid, _now_. I'm a UNSF officer, and I outrank you any day of the week."_

"You're a UNSF officer? So, that means you can take Jehuty off my hands?"

_"__I can, eventually. Not right now."_

"Well, when? I want the hell away from this place. I don't want to kill anyone again!"

_"__Kill again? What are you talking about?"_

"That Egubon guy. He was going to shot me, so I killed him. He was also threatening to kill my... my friends."

_"__I don't claim to understand the whole process of circumstances that happened, but listen, we'll take Jehuty away from you as soon as possible, okay? You just have to get to us first."_

"Well, who are you?"

_"__This is the UNSF transport _Atlantis_, on route from a UCM facility, Vascilia county, Mars. My name is Elena Weinburg, I'm the sub-commander of the ship."_

"So, when you get here, you'll take Jehuty and I can get back to―" Leo stopped in mid-sentence. Get back to _what_? His home was under attack. He'd killed a man. His father could barely look at him _before_ he was a murderer, much less after. Why in hell would he ever want to go back to such a worthless existence? "I can get away from here?"

_"__Yes, we'll take Jehuty from you and take you where ever you want to go. Earth, Mars―anywhere."_

Earth. His mother lived there.

She hated him, too.

"Just... hurry up, okay?"

_"__Leo, I need to ask you a question. Was a Lieutenant Alan Frakes anywhere near Jehuty when you got inside it?"_

"He was dead."

_"__Dead?! Are you sure?"_

"Yeah. He had a big hole in his neck."

Elena was quiet for a very long time. Leo almost wanted to say something, just to break the silence.

_"__There was nothing you could do, right?"_ she asked at last.

"No. He told me to find Egubon, and by the time everything was... _done_ with him, I went back in there and he was dead."

_"__All right. Listen, Leo, you have to fight your way through the colony, and then you'll be contacted by one of our people."_

"How long will that be?"

_"__The _Atlantis_ is still two days―well, fourteen hours, that is via space compression―away from Antilia. One of our officers went ahead a little while ago, so he'll arive in about ten hours. We're trying to boost our own compression to come out a little earlier, but don't count on it."_

"Okay. Just fourteen hours or less?"

_"__Right."_

"Then I'm done?"

_"__Then you're done."_

"Good. I want the hell away from this place."

_"__I'll see you then, Leo. I'll contact you again later, all right?"_

"Fine."

_"__I'm giving ADA the information necesary to your mission. You'll have to do a lot of fighting, but, hopefully, not against anything living. Only unmanned Orbital Frames."_

"Unmanned?"

_"__Because they have so little pilots authorized for Orbital Frame use, BAHRAM uses unmanned Frames for the bulk of their fighting force. The squad commander usually has a program installed on their Frame to control them."_

"Oh."

_"__I'll talk to you later, Leo. Good luck!"_

"Thanks."

residential block s02, bakura district, antilia

Celvice Klein watched in fear as the two weird LEVs landed in front of her apartment building and began tearing it down from one side to the other. Both of them had tuning fork-like fingers on their hands, with red energy glowing between the two prong-like fingers. Their red eyes glowed, almost like fire.

She ran, going for the closest exit. It wasn't far, maybe only two floors down. She hit the bottom of the first flight of stairs and suddenly, the ceiling crumbled, collapsing the rest of the stairs. Celvice was knocked back, luckily out of the way of a piece of the ceiling. She'd couldn't have asked for better luck.

_I need to get out of here,_ she thought, determined. She stood up and crawled through a hole in the rubble, just smaller than her. She made herself fit, but it was still difficult. The end of the path was nowhere in sight, but she kept going. Eventually, she found a hole on the other side, but it was barely bigger than her head. She shifted her weight to one side, then used her one free hand to make the hole bigger. It took maybe five minutes, but she finally had a hole she could crawl out of, and then she saw the foot of one of those weird LEVs.

_Oh, no... It could see me before I get out of here..._

Celvice didn't move for a while, she just remained in her little hole. Longer than she wanted to, but she didn't want to die. Those weird LEVs would surely tear her apart if she ran out there now.

But then, something surprising happened.

The LEVs moved.

Celvice crawled out of the hole and saw that the two LEVs had flown away. They were currently flying over the river, and appeared to be awaiting something.

She took her shot, ran out the broken window, and stopped.

A _third_ LEV was floating mere yards away. This one was different than the others, spiney and thin instead of bulky. It had the same head, however, and the same eyes.

And those eyes were staring straight at her, right now.

She knelt down and curled into a ball. With what little strength she could, she began to pray.

factory block f14, alpha district, antilia

Leo watched as a squadron of Orbital Frames arrived at the factory. They seemed to be unmanned. A display on the screen named each one as they came into focus. A thin, boney looking one with a weird beak-like head and dual swords for hands was ID'd as a Raptor. A larger, heavily shielded one was named Mummyhead. That one had cannon-like devices on both shoulders.

"Um, ADA? Any suggestions?" he asked, looking at the approaching horde of machines.

_"__Suggestions: high powered beam attacks would have the least efficacy, but would allow you to stay away. Mid-range attacks would allow you to stay a marginal distance away, and would have greater power over the Raptors, but a Halberd attack from a Mummyhead would be devastating. Close range attacks would negate the effects of the Mummyhead attacks, but would give the Raptors a good shot at you."_

"So, in other words, I can waste time back here by throwing shots at them which do little to no damage, or I can go up close and personal?"

_"__Exactly."_

"Okay. Let's try the up close and personal route."

Leo moved the orbs and shot Jehuty forward, withdrawing the left forearm blade and slicing up the first Raptor, drawing a diagonal line across it from left shoulder to right hip. It exploded, sending shards and pieces flying, and pushing back the other two Raptors and one of the Mummyheads.

The two Raptors made their move, each about to take a slice out Jehuty's mid section. Leo drew back Jehuty's left hand and a white ball of energy began to grow. He shot it out, hitting one of the Raptor's in its beak head. It went flying back, hitting an office building that had remained after the fight between Neith and the LEVs.

The third Raptor brought its arms inwards and then flung them out, sending large devices flying out. The landed on whatever surfaces weren't Orbital Frames and sent out energy beams which caught Jehuty in between them. Leo manipulated the orbs, but couldn't move. The Raptor started swiping with its own blades, but Leo found a program called and turned it on, creating a shield around Jehuty, which the swords couldn't break.

When the energy beams shut off, Leo reached out with Jehuty and grabbed the Raptor by the head, then threw it at the farthest Mummyhead―based on the information from ADA, the closest one probably wouldn't attack―which didn't get out of the way soon enough. Its shield array covering its body split apart, revealling that the OF was simply a Raptor underneath. So now there as one Raptor and one Mummyhead.

Leo was amazed at how easy fighting unmanned Orbital Frames was with Jehuty. It was a powerful weapon, but he still wanted it the hell away from him.

The second Mummyhead started to back away, and its cannons opened up slightly, beginning to draw energy. Leo didn't let them. Jehuty rushed the Mummyhead and impaled it through the head with the left forearm blade. The explosion vaporized a good portion of the OF. Leo didn't just stop there, though, He grabbed the shield array off of the Mummyhead and ripped it away from the Raptor inside. He was about to throw it at the remaining Raptor, when ADA spoke up.

_"__Do not discard the Mummy Shield. It can be used to replenish Jehuty's Metatron resevoir. I will store it using a Vector Trap."_

"What's a Vector Trap?"

_"__It is a byproduct of Metatron research. It is possible to create a storage container with nearly limitless capacity. This will help Jehuty store more weapons than what are stored on its body. It uses the same technology to compress space as the Urenbeck Catapault."_

"Oh. Well, store the shield in the Vector Trap, then, ADA."

Without an acknowledgement, the shield array from the Mummyhead disappeared, sucking into itself, it looked like.

Leo returned his attention back to the remaining Raptor, which looked almost as if it didn't know what it was doing. It looked around for a moment, then focused on Jehuty. It dashed forward, igniting both blades at once and spreading them wide. It came within meters of Jehuty before Leo drew back Jehuty's fist and used the burst attack, obliterating the Raptor's head.

_This is so easy,_ he thought, _they go down so fast. It's like they don't even know how to fight back._

Leo was smiling until a small display appeared on a left screen. It was displaying an SOS signal. "ADA? What is that?"

_"__That is an SOS. It is coming from Residential Block S02. They are being attacked by a fleet of Orbital Frames."_

"Residential S02? But, that's where I live!"

_"__It seems a large A-Type Orbital Frame is attacking the Residential Block. It is in command of the other Orbital Frames."_

"A-Type? What does that mean? It's bigger than the others?"

_"__Yes, it does. It also means it will be stronger than Jehuty."_

"Okay. But I can defeat it, though, right?"

_"__Estimated superiority index: 67%. You will have a speed advantage with your smaller size, but that is it. Use it to strike quickly and effectively."_

"Right. Let's go."

residential block s02, bakura district, antilia

Celvice had been very lucky. The LEV hadn't seen her at all. It just flew right past her. She'd gotten back up and continued to run. The first place she ran to was where Leo lived, on the other side of the river. Hopefully, he was still alive in all this carnage.

The apartment building was relatively untouched by the weird LEVs. One side had collasped, but it was the side she didn't care about at the moment. She climbed the stairs and ran to Leo's apartment, finding the door wide open. She ran in―

―and found nothing. The place was empty. No one in the kitchen, the living room, either of the two bedrooms. There was a small video disc on the nightstand next to Mr. Stenbuck's bed. It had a piece of tape on one side with _Leo_ written on it.

_This must be... something. Maybe he's apologizing to Leo after all this time._

Somehow, she doubted it. From what she'd seen, Leo's father cared less about Leo than a dog cares about a cat.

Celvice ran down the stairs and back out into the street. The block was still being attacked by those weird LEVs, but so far, they hadn't seen her, and she didn't hear any other people out on the road. Maybe, she could get as far away from Residential S02 as possible, hide somewhere else, and wait until the UNSF used their own LEVs to save the colony.

Another beak-head LEV stopped just in front of her. This time, the rotating orb that made up the bulk of its head focused on her, and then it raised its hand. It began to glow red...


	4. BATTLEZONES

CHAPTER FOUR : BATTLEZONES

factory block f53, asura district, antilia

Two Phantomas―the standard UNSF LEV―were standing guard over the entrance to the factory on the northern side of the colony. Viola wanted to toy with them, she wanted to make them truly feel death.

Neith landed on the first one and cut its head off. It began to wander around aimlessly and fire its machine gun at everything around it. Viola smiled. She aimed the left arm cannon at its leg and fired away, destroying its ability to move. The pilot continued to squeeze the trigger, firing in all directions.

The second Phantoma was hit, now, and its pilot turned around, toward Neith. Viola pointed the cannon in its direction and fired a blast at its left shoulder, disabling its left arm and cripling it. The pilot, however, was skilled. He used only one arm to aim and fire the machine gun. That was difficult to do with a Phantoma.

Viola grabbed his Phantoma by the head and threw it at the cripled LEV, which was still firing its payload at anything and everything. The two LEVs hit, their ArkJets exploded, and both pilots were incinerated instantly.

_"__Done with that yet, my dear?"_ Nohman's voice taunted. Viola turned Neith around and saw the scorpion-like Selkis standing there, watching.

"Are _you_ done toying with me, yet? What the hell did you need me here for?"

_"__I'll meet you outside."_

She watched as his cockpit opened, and the colonel stood up. He took off his helmet and hopped down from his OF. Rolling her eyes, Viola did the same. She hated being out of Neith.

She followed him into the factory. Six or seven BAHRAM troops were stationed outside the building. They saluted, Nohman returned it. Each one returned to whatever they were doing afterward. Nohman led her through the factory, into a room which overlooked a near complete Orbital Frame. 'Near complete' meant that Anubis was lacking a paint scheme. It was, for the most part, a plain brown.

"Isn't it beautiful, Viola?" Nohman asked, staring at it. He almost looked like he was smiling―something rare for the colonel.

"The Egyptian God of Death. There's a wonderful basis."

The smile widened. "Of course it is, as Anubis was created for just that purpose. To kill."

Viola turned her attention toward it as well. She had to admit, it _was_ a superb fusalage. Physically, it resembled Jehuty―Target Bravo. Several things defined it, however. While Jehuty was primarily modeled off of the original OF, Idolo, Anubis differed in that it had a large wing-like Metatron generator, a staff as a weapon instead of two forearm blades and the devices on Jehuty's waist had no counterpart in Anubis.

Anubis was the muscle-bound older brother, while Jehuty was the street-smart younger brother.

Viola walked over to a computer terminal which was still activated. "The Aumaan Plan. What is that?"

Nohman didn't react for minutes, and even then he didn't take his attention away from Anubis. "It is why we need Jehuty as well. Aumaan requires both Orbital Frames to work. Each one with the same abilities and programs."

"So, Jehuty needs to be stolen."

"Not just stolen."

Viola looked up from the computer at him. He had now turned. "Jehuty has been overhauled. All the neccesary programs have been erased. Anubis, however, is undamaged."

"Why did they erase Jehuty's programs?"

"Jehuty was finished. Anubis, however, remains incomplete, and as such, they probably thought that we'd never take an incomplete Frame. So they focused on stripping from Jehuty that which we'd need."

"Forcing our hand."

"Exactly."

"Terrans," Viola spat. "They always find ways to do this."

"We would do the same, Viola. Never forget that."

"Are you saying this is fair?"

"BAHRAM's mission is to free Mars from the Terran opression. Not to destroy Earth for what they've done to us."

"That is what they deserve, Colonel."

"If that's how you feel."

"They've held us at arm's length forever! They've destroyed our homes!"

"And that is what we have done as well, Lieutenant. In this little occupation, we've destroyed dozens of Terran homes, when they didn't do the same during their own occupaton. The lines that are crossed in any war aren't ones people as a whole are supposed to cross."

"You and General Rutger would disagree, Colonel."

"And we have, multiple times." Nohman walked back over to the window that overlooked Anubis. "And if I were under Rutger's jurisdiction, it would matter." He was smiling again. "Luckily, Anubis is my trump card, what I can use to cast Rutger aside, where he should be."

Viola walked over to window and stood beside him. She, too, saw the possibilities that Anubis brought forth, but she saw different possibilities. She saw possibilities that Nohman didn't even want to think about.

She saw the chance to destroy Jehuty, and the punk kid who was piloting it.

Residential block s02, bakura district, antilia

Leo saw a young girl on the street who was cowering in front of a Raptor. He beheaded the Raptor by uncrossing both of Jehuty's forearm blades right in front of it. After that, he landed next to the girl and hopped out of the cockpit.

It was Celvice.

"Celvice? What the fuck are you doing here?" he asked, helping her to her feet.

"What am I doing here? What are _you_ doing in that thing?!"

"I..." he stopped. _I what? I inherited it? Christ..._ "It was an accident. Where were you going?"

"I... I don't know. Somewhere."

"There're some people hiding out in the church, we heard them on the radio, just get going, okay?"

She nodded. Then ran. Leo turned back to Jehuty and jumped in, just as the Type-A Orbital Frame that ADA had mentioned before landed over top of the street.

It was indeed massive. Probably three times the size of Jehuty. It was the same shape as an octopus, with roughly double the amount of tentacles, however these were not tentacles, they were some kind of stabilizers. They held the OF up, it seemed. It's head was a giant dome, which was nothing but reflection. The cockpit was somewhat shielded from harm by the stabilizer legs. It had two arms, one to each side, which seemed to end in cannons.

The pilot of the big Frame opened up a comm channel. _"So, you're the Runner of Bravo? I thought a woman would be plenty."_ he asked. Leo looked him over. He was a very muscular man. He looked like he had to be at least six and a half feet tall. _"Gonna answer, kid?"_

Leo gritted his teeth. "I'm not a kid."

_"__There's the proof."_

"Of what?"

_"__That you're still a fucking kid."_

"Go to hell!"

_"__You first, kiddo."_

Leo couldn't take anymore. He drew back Jehuty's hand and let loose with a very large burst attack. The target area of the burst attack was the large dome-head, which started to crack.

_"__Gah, dammit!"_

Leo smiled. "You said I could go first."

_"__That's not what I meant you little fucking twerp! My Tempest will annihilate you!"_

_Tempest,_ Leo thought. So _that_ was the name of the squid Frame. It fit it well. "So, what's your reason for being here?"

The Runner didn't answer with words. Just with fire balls coming from the cannons on the ends of the arms. Leo moved Jehuty to the right, barely dodging the flame attacks. Leo drew back both of Jehuty's forearm blades and flew ahead, straight for the large dome. Maybe he could damage Tempest's sensors by destroying the dome. Or at least do something to it.

Leo manipulated the orbs and started spinning Jehuty around, a tornado attack. This created several parallel slashes across the base of the dome, creating more and more cracks along the entire dome. He finished it off with a swing―

―but a missile hit Jehuty's chest, knocking it back. It flew back, into a building that Leo hoped was empty. Jehuty stood up, and Leo drew its hand back once more for another burst attack. This time, however, Tempest's Runner didn't like the idea of that. He used one of the tentacle stabilizers to whack Jehuty off of the roof before Leo launched the attack. As a result, the burst ball hit the left shoulder, virtually destroying the left arm cannon.

_"__Ah! Damn! I'll make you pay for that you little son of a bitch!"_

Leo took the idea and ran with it, drew the forearm blades, and flew right at the right shoulder, then slashed it off. _Let's see ya fireball me now, asswipe._

Tempest turned toward him. _"Let's see how ya like this!"_ the Runner shouted. Suddenly, the dome on top of it blew apart, and a large cylinder with an odd face rose up from on top of the huge Frame. _"Dodge this one!"_

Leo hit the boosters and flew backward, away from what he thought was going to be another smash attack from the stabilizer leg. Instead, Tempest flew upwards, spread the stabilizers, and came straight back down. Leo boosted Jehuty out of the way just in time, but a good majority of the block was destroyed, now.

"You son of a bitch!" Leo shouted. "This was my home!"

_"__Your home, huh? Well, then, let's take out even more of it!"_

Leo couldn't take it any longer. As Tempest rose again, he saw that the stabilizers uncovered the cockpit for a short moment. While Tempest was up in the air, Leo set a burst ball in wait and launched it at just the right time. It hit the cockpit on the underside, separating it from the body of Tempest. The cockpit landed on the ground, right into the base of the NUT Ltd building. The rest of Tempest landed on the building itself, destroying it from the roof down.

After the building had fallen, Leo landed Jehuty and ran over to the rubble.

_Did he make it out in time? Is he still alive?_

"ADA, do you read any lifesigns?"

_"__Negative. Read: no life signs in the vicinity of the destroyed Orbital Frame. The frame runner did not survive."_

"Dammit!" He punched the nearest rock, sending a jolt of pain through his arm to his brain and back again. "Could I have saved him?" he asked.

_"__I do not see the logic in saving him. He was an enemy combatant, saving him would only result in another conflict at a later time, or perhaps an assassination attempt on your life."_

"But he was still a human being!"

_"__Species does not preclude morality. Just because he was human, does not mean that he would have been humane."_

"Shut up!"

Leo fell to his knees. _I don't need this! Just because he was the enemy doesn't mean he didn't deserve to live!_

The rational part of his brain began to speak. _What about Egubon? He was an enemy, and you killed him in cold blood. You killed him with your bare hands._

_Shut _up_! I don't wanna hear this shit!_

"Leo?" a soft, feminine voice behind him asked. He turned around and saw Celvice standing there, her hair and skirt billowing in the wind. She walked over to him and grabbed his hands. "What's wrong?"

He looked back at the rubble. "I didn't know he'd have to die..."

She lowered her eyes, then brought them back up to him. "You tried not to. That's all that matters, now."

"Celvice..."

"Leo, you couldn't help it. And, he was destroying the town."

"You saw?"

"I was watching the whole fight from a window of the church. After everything was over, I ran out here to meet you again."

Leo closed his eyes. This was the second time today that someone had thanked him for killing. The last time, three people had died, having been basically vaporized by a plasma attack from Neith. He wasn't going to let this one die. "You're coming with me, Celvice," he said.

"What?"

"Togu, Hakashi and Elise died right in front of me, and I don't wanna see that happen to you, too."

She looked at him like he was crazy. "Leo, I-uh, I didn't, um, know that you cared so much."

"I'm serious, Celvice."

"I know. I didn't mean that."

"Three people died because of me. I don't want anybody else to be my fault."

_"__Pardon me for intruding, but enemy Orbital Frames are on their way. They appear to be close-range assault types, known as Cyclops."_

Leo nodded, then turned back to Celvice. "It'll be a tight fit, but we need to get inside the cockpit now, okay?"

She nodded. They both ran toward Jehuty and climbed up into the cockpit. Leo got in first, sitting in the seat. Celvice climbed in on top of him and sat down there. Leo found it lucky that she was a skinny, small girl, otherwise this would be a tighter fit than normal.

After Celvice got inside the cockpit, the Force Tiles closed, sealing them inside. Leo manipulated the orbs and Jehuty stood up, then shot up and into the sky. ADA had been correct―three weird looking OFs were flying toward them, each with some kind of glowing red thing in its hand.

"I saw those a little while ago," Celvice said, shivering. "They were destroying my apartment building."

Leo nodded, then accelerated toward the three OFs, drawing both forearm blades. He hit the first one directly in the head, severing it from the body and sending both pieces into another one of the unmanned machines. Leo did a vertical upward slash on the third, destroying it.

The second, however, was not yet destroyed. It grabbed Jehuty by the head, pulled back its other fist, then let loose a heavy punch which sent Jehuty into an apartment building. Leo manipulated the orbs and stood Jehuty up, then pointed its hand at the Cyclops and started firing at it. It held its arms close to its chest, sort of in a boxing position, and created a shield.

_"__The shield can be broken with a Burst Attack."_

"Thanks, ADA," Leo said, taking her advice. He pulled the hand back and then shot it forth, launching the burst attack. The ball broke through the Cyclops' shield, then tore through the mech's right side. It went spiralling out of control and landed on the ground. "Any more OFs on the screen, ADA?"

_"__Negative. All Orbital Frames have been destroyed."_

"Good," Leo sighed, then laid back in his seat. "This is exhausting considering all I'm doing is sitting in a chair." He looked over at Celvice. "Why didn't you stay with all the people at the church?"

She looked out the cockpit at the church, far off in the distance. "They all left. I asked them not to, but they just kept saying they'd go to the nearest place where the UNSF would save them."

Leo snorted. "Fat chance."

"Huh?"

"The UNSF is on their way, but it'll take at least twelve hours for them to get here."

"How do you know?"

"I was talking to some UNSF people a little while ago, they're on their way to come get Jehuty." Leo thought about that for a minute. "Hey, ADA? Can you call up the _Atlantis_?"

_"__No. Their subspace communication system is set to Send only. We can only talk to them if they call us first."_

"Oh. Well, what comes next?"

_"__I am receiving a signal from a news network."_

"We can watch TV in here?" Celvice asked.

"Put it up, ADA," Leo said, ignoring Celvice's question.

The television broadcast appeared in a small holoscreen to Leo's left. A blonde haired newswoman looked surprisingly well and calm. _"This is Channel Eight News, Antilia News Network. BAHRAM's continued assault on Antilia has brought a good deal of injury and even death to our peaceful colony. We have been told that UNSF reinforcements have barricaded a hospital in Residential Area S03. Over five thousand residents are currently housed in this hospital and―wait a minute. The hospital is now being attacked by unmanned Orbital Frames!"_

Leo shut the feed down, then brought up the map of S03. "ADA, how long can that hospital last?"

_"__It is uncertain. However, this is not our mission, you should not risk your life for theirs."_

"But, ADA," Celvice piped up, "those people didn't do anything. Why should we let them die?"

"We're not going to," Leo said, setting course for S03. "We're going to save them. ADA, don't _ever_ take the lives of others lightly. Otherwise you're as heartless as BAHRAM is." Leo manipulated the orbs, and Jehuty shot forward into the air.

Residential block s03, bakura district, antilia

Residential S03 was a short distance from S02. That short distance, however, was populated by dozens of Raptors. Leo didn't understand why exactly BAHRAM was attacking the colony this severely, but it seemed as though their commanding officer was extremely serious about his assault.

S03 was very different from S02. Where S02 was more a modern, downtown-like area, similar to places like Vascilia or New York, S03 was suburbs. It wasn't a very big place. The hospital took up the majority of it. Close to three dozen Raptors were assaulting the hospital, but none had done any severe damage. Close to a dozen UNSF LEVs were standing guard outside the hospital, taking on the OFs as they attacked.

Leo banked to the left and sliced a Raptor in two as it was about to jam its blade through a window. Four other Raptors took notice in him, and drew both of their blades for an attack. Leo didn't know what to do, so he consulted the program listing. One of them was called . He tapped the button and let loose with a volley of small shots from Jehuty's fingertips. Each one found a Raptor, some even joined in on the same one. When it was over, only two of the original three dozen Raptors remained, and the UNSF LEVs took them out. Both fell to the ground in micro explosions.

"Wow, Leo, you're really good at this," Celvice said, looking out over the destroyed Raptor remains. One of them was still attempting to complete its mission, but a LEV put a bullet through its head.

"Yeah, I dunno how, either. It just comes naturally. Is that weird, ADA?"

_"__I do not think so. It is possible that you are just a natural pilot. This is a good thing, is it not?"_

"That depends on how long I have to keep doing this. Are there any other SOS signals around?"

_"__I am not reading any, however, the colony's EPS system has just been activated."_

"EPS?"

_"__It is a shield-type device, which disallows transport from one side of the colony to the other. It is possible BAHRAM activated it to halt our advance."_

"So, what do we do?"

_"__Return to the Factory, please. I am detecting a local server."_

"Local server?"

_"__It can add new programs to Jehuty, which will allow us to use a greater range of abilities, from attacks to dodging maneuvers and more."_

"Okay, we'll head back to the factory."

_Even though it's not a place I want to go back to..._ Leo thought, grimly.

Factory block f53, asura district, antilia

Viola was sitting and putting her gun back together when Nohman returned to the room. He didn't even look at her when he spoke. "Axe is activating the EPS field as we speak, and it's rerouting power from the EPS generators. This will bring Target Bravo to us, after the Runner realizes what he needs to do. Nightraid is finishing up the UNSF resistance near the dock. The bombs are already being placed for the big finale."

She set her gun aside. "You really wanna destroy this place? Wasn't it part of your father's legacy?"

He turned toward her, his eyes looked deadlier than ever. "Anubis and Jehuty are my father's legacy. This colony was nothing but their birthplace, and I am the doctor delivering the children to their mother, Aumaan."

"_That's_ a way to look at it. I suppose Dr. Hardiman was their father as well as yours?" Viola laughed as she asked the question.

Nohman didn't seem to like it. He rushed forward, grabbed her by the neck and slammed her against the back wall of the room. "If you weren't so valuable to me, I'd snap your pretty little neck and give you exactly what it is you want, understand?"

She strained to speak. "So why don't you?"

"I just said you were too valuable to me."

He let her go and walked over to the window. She coughed for a few moments, then stood up. Her neck was now incredibly sore. "Sometimes, Colonel," she struggled to say, "I think you're just like a fucking Terran."

factory block f14, alpha district, antilia

Leo tried to avoid the area where four people had died. One who deserved it and three who didn't. Unfortunately, the local server that ADA had detected was only a block away from the site. While she downloaded it, Leo got out and walked over to the parking lot.

He knelt down next to the hole that had once been Togu, Hakashi and Elise. Strips of clothing still remained. He took a long white stripe―it looked to have come from Elise's coat―and held it in his hands for a little while.

"Is this where it happened?" Celvice asked. Leo hadn't heard her come up. Second time, that day.

"Yeah..." He laid the strip down and stood back up. "All because of Neith and Viola."

"But _not_ you, Leo."

Leo threw the stripe down. "It should have been me. All I did was tell them to run. I should have pushed them out of the way and taken it for them."

"You can't mean that, Leo."

"I do!" He shot a look back at Celvice, who's eyes widened in shock. "They had lives and friends and families that cared about them! I'm fucking _worthless_! To _everyone_!" He turned forward again and kicked a piece of debris. "Even the goddamn UNSF just wants me to get out of the fucking way!"

Celvice rubbed her left arm. "Leo... Why are you so angry?"

"I'm tired of it all, Celvice. I'm tired of being here. I'm tired of being used by the UNSF. I'm just tired..." He fell to his knees. A tear fell to the ground.

She knelt down next to him. "You're not worthless to _me_, Leo."

He said through tears, "That makes you the only one."

_"__I have finished downloading the colony information from the local server,"_ ADA said, moving Jehuty into a standing position. _"We can now go, Leo Stenbuck."_

Leo stood up. "Good. I'm ready to leave this stupid factory."


End file.
